Kyoto in the off-season

Everyone goes for the blossom. Go in February instead: it is cold, it is grey, the temples are nearly empty, and the city finally sits still long enough to be looked at properly.

The mornings

I walked the Philosopher's Path at 6:40 a.m. four days running and passed a total of nine people. In April you cannot move on it. The trade is that nothing is blooming and your hands hurt — which felt like a very reasonable price.

Off-season travel is mostly the discipline of accepting worse weather in exchange for a better city.

• Stay east of the river — everything walkable, everything quieter
• Nanzen-ji before 8 a.m., no exceptions
• Book the one expensive dinner; skip the other five
• Bring warmer layers than the forecast suggests — the temples are unheated